Don't use Eco Earth Loose coconut fiber substrate.

[BPelizabeth]

Wow old thread revived. I looked back on my post.....just to let you know now I house all my snakes in bins except for a milk snake. I can tell you we have since switched over to paper towels and I LOVE IT!!! So super clean and easy to throw out...disenfect the aq. or the bin and lay down more. When you see your snake go blue or a pink belly you can add a damp washcloth over the warm hide. This should take care of all of your shedding problems. Works like a charm.

[PitOnTheProwl]

However this is the first time that I have heard of coconut husk used for ball pythons. Do they really need something that holds humidity that well?

It obviously has it's uses, but with balls really?

You need a substrate that holds a lot of humidity if you have your balls in tanks. I am not fond of racks at all even though if/when I start breeding I will prolly need to get a juvi rack. LOL

[Skittles1101]

This is why I feed mine in a separate tank..with newspaper....to avoid this AND to avoid being mistaken for food lol I actually love the Eco Earth coconut substrate. It does wonders for my humidity.

[Jeremy Browning]

I've switched to coconut fiber recently since I can get it in large amounts cheap. What you said happens occasionally but I don't think its really a serious situation. I've had similar situations with other bedding. For example, I used to use a fir/sphagnum bedding. It was expensive but I had good results. Due to its rougher texture I never had the "mouthfuls of dirt" scenarios like I see every so often w/ coconut. But...one time my BP missed and hit a little piece of fir bark and got it nailed down on his lower front teeth. This sucker was not coming out with the standard mouth-rubbing routine. My snake was so pissed it worked on it for a good half-hour before giving in and consuming the mouse with a dirty mouth. In the end, I had to forcibly remove the piece of bark.

But the said thing is the mothful of dirt and impaction do happen as a matter of a fact one of my many corn snakes died of impaction from this. R.I.P. eetwidomalah
My theory along these lines is that snakes eat off of dirt and twigs in the wild and therefore are equipped to handle the occasional mouthful of substrate. Of course, you want your pet to reap some benefits from captivity but it is important to remember what they are built for. I'm not flaming you for switching to another substrate. I've considered it myself for this very reason. But, I think the finely ground nature of coconut fiber probably makes it a low compaction risk. And, coconut fiber has some excellent properties such as moisture retention and bacteria resistance. In addition, it packs nicely which I like. Some beddings allow the snake to slowly burrow down towards the heat source under its hide which makes tricker to safely heat the cage.

[purplemuffin]

Of course, in the wild they also deal with parasites, predators, and disease in the wild, but we try to avoid adding that into our captive snakes, lol!

I've used and still use particle substrate(Aspen) with one of my snakes, though as soon as this last batch has run it's course we are switching to newspaper. It's just easier. Our other two snakes are on it, and if they 'go' we just replace that newspaper and put in a clean one. No mess, no fuss, no worrying about it getting bad and replacing it, cause you just replace it anyway. And I don't like feeding on substrate like that either. I feel that if the animal's life is in my hands--which, as a pet, it is-- I want to give it the safest life possible, so if anything DOES go wrong, I don't have to worry about other possibilities like ingesting substrate adding to the equation! So I feed our Maru outside her tank. Sure she'd be most likely fine eating on substrate, but you know, there is always that chance. I don't want the one freak accident to be my snake if all it takes for me to avoid it is to put it on paper. Plus, I'm sure it's unpleasant for the snake, LOL! How do you like crud in your food?

[PitOnTheProwl]

How do you like crud in your food?

LOL ................ DONT watch the sanitation video my wife had to watch when she was in school getting her degree in culinary arts You will never want to go out to eat AGAIN...............took 6 months before I could eat chicken again

[RottsTottsnRepts]

I came upon this thread because our BP currently has a mouthful of coconut fiber from rooting during her shed. Can I pick her up to get it out or should I wait until after her shed? She doesn't look too happy... but then again, I guess I can relate to the "peeling" stage of good old California sunburns, so NOT enjoyable!! LOL

But seriously, is it normal for them to get a mouthful of substrate during a shed?? ~Thanks!!

[mainbutter]

Cypress mulch is my go-to bedding for rainbow boas, which I find thrive with higher humidity.

edit: just realized, the original post is from 2010... lol

[bubblz]

I've used Eco Earth for almost 5yrs now with my snakes and tegus and haven't had any issues. It's not digestible but it's small enough to pass through the digestive system with out any issues. It mixes in with the poop so it's harder to see it.

Any time wet touches dry somethings going to stick, especially with something that's absorbent. Eco Earth is meant to be kept moist. The only time I've seen clumps of it sticking to any of my reps is when they have been in their water and the substrate is too dry.

How low or at what level do you hold the feeder if at all, for the snake to miss and get a mouth full of Eco Earth? I don't lay feeders on the substrate I dangle it until they strike. By the time it's on the substrate it's pretty well covered. Even when they drop it to re position, it's not covered in substrate when they eat it.

@RottsTottsnRepts you can restrain her and try and get it out or let her soak for a bit

[Missy King]

why don't you just not feed in the enclosure??? lol